Misunderstood: A Mortal's Little Secret
by Peach the Hedgehog
Summary: Christy worriedly returns to her hometown. After meeting Hikari, she has made a promise that she intends to keep. How far is she willing to go? Permission from Awesome Rapidash to write this since this is connected to Misunderstood.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harvest Moon series.

**AN: This story was inspired from Misunderstood, written by Awesome Rapidash. We both worked on this together, and I do have his permission to write this. Thanks goes to Awesome Rapidash for helping me out and letting me write this!**

**This takes place after chapter 17 of Misunderstood.**

It seemed to be a very nice night, with the moon, stars, and a few clouds in the sky. Normally, Christy would be relaxed on a night like this. But, she had other things on her mind.

Not long ago, she'd returned from a trip to Forget Me Not Valley where she'd visited her good friend Jack, and his wife and daughter. While she had initially felt a twinge of jealousy at first, since she had seen Jack as her husband for some time, that soon passed. It was nice to see everyone and Hikari seemed like a really nice person. And to that, the baby that was named after her was so adorable.

The brunette would have thought that she wouldn't have much trouble after the visit. But she was wrong. During her stay, she discovered that Hikari was the surviving member of the Hychi clan. That clan had long ago been attacked by the Huuga clan, which her good friend happened to be a part of. The Huuga clan had known of the last survivor and had been looking high and low for her.

What was worse, her friend's family wanted to see her. Her friend had said that they had a special reason why they wanted to see her. She didn't know what it was, but, now that she'd met Hikari, she had a pretty good idea.

Taking a deep breath, Christy walked over to Maya's house and knocked on the door. She didn't have to wait long to see a black haired girl open the door. "Hello, Christy!" she greeted cheerfully. "How was your trip?"

"It went pretty well, Maya," Christy answered. She noticed as her friend stepped to the side to allow her to enter the house. It looked like a typical style for a witch's house, with books, a cauldron and even some potions. "My friend is doing very well."

"That's good to hear," the witch said with a smile. "My parents and my grandparents are here, and would like to meet you."

The brown eyed girl tried to hold back a gulp as she followed Maya into another room. Four people were seated at a table and all of them except for Maya's mother had black hair. Christy sat down in an empty seat, and smiled as best as she could.

"You are Christy, correct?" questioned Maya's grandfather.

"That is correct, sir," the mortal girl answered with a nod of her head.

The witch's grandmother smiled. "It's rare that a human would want to befriend a witch. Very rare indeed."

Christy managed a small smile. Maybe she was wrong, and they only wanted to meet her. "Yeah, I noticed that. Everyone around here has shunned her, thinking that she is a stereotypical witch. But, I never thought that way about her."

Maya's red haired mother cleared her throat. "The reason that we asked you here today is this. According to Maya, you went to Forget Me Not Valley to visit a friend."

The brunette nodded slowly, noticing the shift in the conversation. The bad feeling returned to the pit of her stomach. "Yes, that's right."

"We know that Maya has told you how we attempted to defeat a rival clan," Maya's grandfather continued. "And as you have also been told, there is one lone survivor. We've looked high and low for her, but we can't seem to find her. We were wondering if, due to your recent visit, you would be able to provide us with her exact location. We would be grateful if you did."

Christy paused to consider her answer carefully. She remembered when she talked to Hikari about it, and how she promised to not tell anyone that she had seen her. She had not only promised that for the sake of Hikari, but also for Jack and baby Christy.

The brunette put on her best thoughtful expression, trying to ignore the look that her friend's father was giving her. "Hm, I didn't see her when I was there. I just went to see my friend Jack."

"Well, what about your friend?" inquired the witch's grandpa. "Has he encountered her?"

Christy tried to hide her nervousness as she shook her head. "Nope, he hasn't seen her either."

Maya's father leaned forward, looking directly into the mortal girl's brown eyes. "I'm not so sure that I believe you. In fact, I don't believe you at all."

The brunette nodded slowly. "Yes, I can tell. It's the look in your eyes."

Maya's mother sighed a bit, pressing her back against the chair she was sitting on. "If you do know something, please tell us, Christy. I can see that you don't understand our reasons. I can tell you, however, that our attack was justified!"

Christy looked away, not looking convinced. "Justified, you say? Maya even told me that she didn't want to do it. That's why she left in the first place. And, I don't think there can be any reason that would be 'justified' to kill off an entire clan."

"While it is very unfortunate that Maya refused to take part, a mortal such as you could never hope to understand," Maya's grandfather remarked.

The brown eyed girl crossed her arms. "Personally, I think Maya made the right choice," Christy said angrily. "And just because I'm a mortal wouldn't mean that I wouldn't understand the reason."

Maya's father gazed at Christy thoughtfully. "Your reaction is rather curious. It makes me think that you are hiding something from us."

At that moment, Christy was at a loss for words. She stood for a moment, and pulled her friend to the side. "What's going on, Christy?" Maya wanted to know as she followed her.

Christy sighed a little bit. A thought had crossed her mind when her friend's father made that last statement. She was very nervous about it, but she had made her choice long ago. She just needed to confirm the information with her friend first. "Maya… does your family know what the survivor of the Hychi clan looks like?"

A look of curiosity filled Maya's blue eyes as she shook her head. "No. That's one of the reasons that no one has been able to find her."

The brown eyed girl nodded slowly. "I see." She then lowered her voice a bit. "You may not like what I am about to do, Maya. But, I made a promise not long ago, and I intend on keeping it."

A gasp escaped Maya's lips as Christy walked back into the room where Maya's family awaited her. Despite her fear, the brunette looked as calm as she could, and she crossed her arms again. Everyone stared at the brunette curiously, and Maya had a tinge of fear reflecting in her eyes.

"You would have figured it out eventually," the mortal girl growled. "So I see no point in pretending further."

Maya's father narrowed his eyes at the girl. "So you were hiding something."

"Yes. You say that you are looking for the surviving member of the Hychi clan? Well, she stands before you!"

Surprise and shock filled the room, and the brunette's friend was completely horrified. It took all of Christy's efforts to stay still when Maya's dad got up from his chair and glared at her angrily. "How dare you enter and defile my daughter's home!" As he spoke, the other three also stood up and started to advance on her quickly.

"NO!" Maya gasped in fear. The witch knew that her friend was lying right now. They had been friends for a year now, and she knew that her friend was mortal and not a member of the Hychi clan. "Christy, you can't do this!" She turned her horrified gaze to her dad. "Please, don't kill her! I'm begging you!"

"She is the last survivor of that accursed Hychi clan," her father reminded her. "I have a duty to my clan to finish what happened so long ago!"

"Mother, stop him!" the young witch pleaded, looking in her mom's direction. But the woman didn't make a response. She looked just as angry as her father.

"No, please stop! You don't understand!"

The mortal girl sighed, but also kept her arms crossed. "Forgive me, Maya…" she whispered.

"Do you have anything to say before we pass the final judgement on you?" questioned the witch's dad.

"No," was all Christy answered.

"Don't!! Please!" Maya cried, clasping her hands together. "She's lying! She's not a witch! She is a mortal girl!"

Christy glanced in the witch's direction. "Thank you, Maya. But you are just trying to defend me." She turned her gaze back to the others and tried to stand firm. "I am not lying. I really am the last member of the Hychi clan!"

Maya looked so scared and insistent that her grandfather stepped forward first. He chanted a spell under his breath and focused on Christy. The brunette expected to get hurt, but she couldn't feel any pain at all. Quite honestly, she felt a bit weird, but normal.

"This girl is no witch," the old man answered after a few moments of silence. "She can't be the last surviving member of the Hychi clan."

Maya gasped. "But… how can you tell?"

"It's the spell I used," her grandfather explained. "It can detect the magical energies within someone, and this girl doesn't have any such power." He turned his gaze on Christy, looking curious. "Why would you make such a claim? Don't you realize that you would have been killed?"

Christy knew that her cover had been blown so she uncrossed her arms and sighed. "Yes. I knew of the consequences before I started. It was pretty obvious to me since all the other members of the Hychi clan were killed."

A look of shock filled Maya's face as she realized what her friend meant by a promise. It was clear that she had been lying, even to her. That she had indeed met the remaining member of the Hychi clan, and yet was willing to die in her place to protect her.

"It appears to me you know a lot more that what you are willing to tell," Maya's grandfather continued as he took a step closer. "But, it seems to me that you are not willing to tell, since you planned on dying first."

"Yes, that's true," the mortal girl added.

"Isn't there anything that we can do to convince you?" questioned Maya's mom, who had been silent up until now. "There must be something you want more than anything. Perhaps even marriage to a man that you love."

Christy knew what this meant. In fact, it was very tempting to suddenly give in. These people were able to promise her Jack's hand in marriage? But she knew that wouldn't make Jack happy. In fact, that was what her heart wanted for him; to be happy. And she was not going to spoil it. She was going to keep her promise.

"No. There is nothing you can say that will convince me to tell you anything."

Maya smiled a little and walked over to Christy. "I'm honored to call you my friend, Christy. Your conviction to your beliefs, as well as choosing to die to protect the ones you call friends."

Christy returned the smile. "And I'm glad to know you as well."

"Well, you just might regret it, you know," Maya's father said coldly, starting to advance on her. "We'll get that information from you."

The mortal girl knew she was in trouble and quickly turned on her heels and fled. Maya ran as well, and used a barrier spell to protect them both. Maya knew her father pretty well, and knew that since the brunette knew where to find the last remaining Hychi clan member, he was going to seek her out until he had his hands on her. He wouldn't necessarily kill her, at least not right away.

"Christy, what are you going to do now?" the witch wanted to know. "You're not going to be able to stay here now."

Christy nodded slowly. "Yeah, I figured that. If I stay here, your father is going to find me easily. I don't think I can take the chance of that. So, I'm going to leave. I don't know where I'm going yet, but I can't stay here. What about you, Maya?"

"I'm coming with you," Maya answered. "If you leave, I won't have a friend anymore."

Christy smiled happily at her friend. Maybe everything will work out fine after all. Once she settled in a new place, she would send a letter to Jack and Hikari so they would know how to find her if they needed her.

But, she couldn't help wondering what would happen to her. She still had a bad feeling, but she tried to shove it to the side. After all, she was sure that nothing bad would happen to her as long as she had Maya on her side. At least, she hoped so.


End file.
